Retention of 46 blocks, which are in operation or to be operated soon, should be considered, it said.

Companies, who were allocated coal blocks, requested the apex court not to cancel the allocation without hearing them.

The Supreme Court in its ruling declared 218 coal-block allocations made between 1993 and 2010 as illegal and arbitrary.

A three-judge Bench consisting of Chief Justice RM Lodha and Justices Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph said: “The entire allocation of coal blocks as per recommendations made by the Screening Committee from July 14, 1993, in 36 meetings, and also the allocation made through the Government dispensation route, suffers from the vice of arbitrariness and legal flaws.”